¹ tn Heb “drew near to enter.”

² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.

³ tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”

⁴ tn The participle דָּן (dan, from דִּין, din) is used here for the future: “I am judging” = “I will surely judge.” The judgment in this case will be condemnation and punishment. The translation “execute judgment on” implies that the judgment will certainly be carried out.

⁵ tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

⁶ tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

⁷ tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.

⁹ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”

¹⁰ tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).

¹¹ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

¹² sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

¹³ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

¹⁶ tn Heb “whom she bore to Nahor.” The referent (Milcah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn The imperfect is used here in a modal sense to indicate desire.

¹⁸ tn Heb “after me.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁰ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.

²² tn Heb “listen to my voice.”

²³ tn Heb “arise, flee.”

²⁴ tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁵ tn Heb “said.”

²⁶ tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”

²⁷ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

²⁸ tn Heb “daughters.”

²⁹ sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.

³⁰ tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³¹ tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

³² sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

³³ tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³⁴ tn Or “because.”

³⁵ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

³⁶ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

sn I have survived. It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live (Gen 48:16; Exod 19:21, 24:10; and Judg 6:11, 22). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11. Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.

³⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁸ tn Heb “let us travel and let us go.” The two cohortatives are used in combination with the sense, “let’s travel along, get going, be on our way.”

³⁹ tn The imperative in this sentence has more of the nuance of a request than a command.

⁴⁰ tn Heb “In my dream look, I was standing.” The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here (and also in vv. 18, 19, 22, 23) invites the hearer (within the context of the narrative, Joseph; but in the broader sense the reader or hearer of the Book of Genesis) to observe the scene through Pharaoh’s eyes.

⁴¹ tn Heb “and I saw in my dream and look.”

⁴² tn Heb “it is the word that I spoke.”

⁴³ tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”

⁴⁴ sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity.